Israel, Jerusalem | featured news

An Israeli archaeologist says newly excavated ancient fortifications in Jerusalem date back 3,000 years to the time of the Bible's King Solomon.

Archaeologists said Wednesday that they have unearthed a section of a stone street in Jerusalem that provides important new evidence about the city's commercial life 1,500 years ago.

Israel triggered a fresh rift with Washington over settlement building on Tuesday by approving the building of 900 homes for Jews on West Bank land it occupied in a 1967 war and annexed to its Jerusalem municipality.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he would not take orders over Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem, rejected on Sunday a U.S. demand to halt plans to build more homes for Jews in the disputed area.

The foreign minister of Israel's incoming government lives in a West Bank settlement and will begin life as a diplomat battling the perception that he is anti-Arab.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday promised vigorous and personal involvement in stalled Mideast peace efforts and criticized Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem as "unhelpful."